Friday, March 16, 2012

Baking Upside Down

Normally I'd be out on my morning run around this time, but not today. The notsosmall reason why is sitting with his head in my ribs.

I'd never given much thought to the possibility of him camping out in the breech position, because apparently it's pretty uncommon.

Which, um, hello?

Is exactly why I should have assumed it would happen to me.

Lately we've had the most beautiful weather and I've been outside a lot, walking and running and blasting the Ipod to National Public Radio.

You know. Happy stuff.

But other stuff, too.

Like contractions. Loads of contractions.

I pretty much do my best to ignore and run through them, because I so prefer a pretty day out and about to (yet another) private pukefest, and moving seems to limit the nausea.

Not only that, but I figured if I somehow threw myself into early labor whilst listening to Diane Rehm, well, then that would be a bonus.

Can you believe I just wrote that out loud?

What kind of heinous mother am I???

More shocking, though, is that my sixty inch frame has not spontaneously burst into a ball of flames or split right down the middle like a cracking egg. I don't expect you to understand how tight things are getting around here, but torso real estate has been extremely limited for months now, which explains why my stomach has recently reached the far Western regions of the Pacific Standard Time Zone.

THERE IS NO MORE ROOM AT THE INN.

On the flip side, after discovering the whole breech thing the other day, I found myself thanking my lucky stars that these have only been practice rounds and not The Big Show. The doctor explained all of the risks and concerns and percentages of carrying breech at this point ...yada, yada, yada... which I hadn't even bothered reading about in the baby books, because the chances of it happening to us were, like, nil. Basically, we won the lotto. If the lotto was an upside down cake in the form of a fetus. With man parts. Anyway. He told me that this is a game changer, and that should I go into labor, I need to ixnay my original plan of watching Jersey Shore reruns for six or seven hours before going to the hospital. Not even six or seven minutes, not even the opening where JWoww talks about ripping heads off of the men that she sleeps with.

Hospital. Pronto. Period.

I'm still processing what this means, but it's put the scare in me. I mean, I'm continuing to live my life, working out full speed ahead and moving forward with plans to The Lake House, but I'm much more cautious, and more than a little nervous. Andrew is too, and he now insists on being by my side for ev.e.ry.thing. from running to taking out the garbage to Ohmygod, that was a contraction wasn't it? Are you okay? Can you hear me? Is there a foot hanging out?!

14 comments:

I have been worried/wondering how you are and what has happened so far..Now I know :(It is not terrible, just not what you planned.But the outcome is the same, that beautiful baby boy who will be like no other and will always hold your heart in his little hand.Forgive me for laughing when I read this, your sense of humor will save the day for you .. many times.much love, C

Both my babies were breech - one a footling which put me on bed rest. And while it IS scary as hell, modern medicine is a wonderful thing and both my babies are perfectly healthy and your little Aston will be too:) I had two versions, neither of which worked, but both of which DID put me into early labor. Is your doc trying to talk you into that?Hang in there - you're almost at the finish line!!

I hope the little guy decides to do a swan dive for you soon, you deserve an easy labor after the pregnancy you've had. And you're not a heinous mother, every pregnant woman hopes she'll deliver early!

Hi there. I came across your blog via Jeremy and Kathleen. I really enjoy reading it (love your sense of humor), but as it goes, I have yet to comment.

I couldn't resist this time. I just wanted to let you know that my second child (Eleanor, who will turn 2 next month) was breech at around 36 weeks. I began seeing a chiropractor who specializes in the Webster Technique. I was a bit hesitant because I imagined some barbaric technique that involved twisting and turning my large (very large) stomach in uncomfortable ways. It was quite the opposite!

My visits with her were actually the most relaxing portions of my days. She used a very gentle touch (like with a few fingers) around my lower abdomen/hip area. Sort of a very light massage. (Fully clothed, by the way!). Then, she used her special table to sway my legs back and forth. (And oh my! did that feel absolutely amazing!). She did very mild adjustments on my lower back, but not by pressing, simply by clicking her table into a lower position.

The theory is that if your hip is out of place (which due to the relaxin hormone + baby-carrying, is very possible), it can cause a pull on the uterus, making less room down low, which in turn motivates the baby to turn breech to have a more comfortable position and more head-room.

Of course we'll never know for sure, but...I had gone to the OB one afternoon, found out she was breech then went to the Chiro that evening. That night I was at home in the bathtub (where I lived at that point), and I saw/majorly felt her flip! The following week, my doctor confirmed the flip, via ultrasound. Unfortunately for me, I had (still have) a stubborn baby, and she flipped twice more between 36-39 weeks. Each time I saw the Chiro when she had turned back to breech position, my hip was out of place again. In addition, following each visit with her, Eleanor flipped back into head-down either that evening or the next day.

She ended up head-down, and I had a successful natural birth. My Chiro said that she's had complete success with all of the moms she's worked with, with the exception of one who came in past her due date hoping for a miracle. Also, I was her only patient whose baby continued turning back into breech position (I had lower back/hip issues to begin with, from my first pregnancy). Typically for my Chiro, once the baby goes head-down, it stays.

With all of that being said, my best friend also had a breech baby, a few months after I did. She did not try chiropractic, and rather went in for the 'turning procedure' that the OB's sometimes perform. Not to be scary, but it was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. And it didn't work. Her baby didn't turn, and after two natural births she had a c-section, with a longer recovery period, with her third.

Gaw...I totally feel like one of 'those' moms, handing out parenting advice like it's free chocolate. So sorry that this is your first impression of me, eeek! I usually don't post things like this. I am just so grateful for this procedure, that I tell everyone I know. Even old guys and dogs. Who, obviously, have no idea what I'm talking about.

Very best wishes to you!!

P.S. Maybe your husband should shout 'Cabs ah heah!' as you're leaving the house in labor. Because that would make for an awesome experience regardless.

There is a website called www.spinningbabies.com that has exercises you can do to try and encourage the baby to turn. I also highly recommend the Webster technique with a qualified chiro (I used it with my second pregnancy, although I didn't have a breech.)

That stinks! I was convinced my little one was breech because how far his butt was implanted in my lungs, so I can only imagine the pressure of the real thing. I hope he turns, but either way the light is at the end of the tunnel.

And you look great. A pregnant person can not hear that enough so I just wanted to say it again.

I also highly recommend the Webster technique by a trained chiropractor. It can get your baby in the correct position and your body better prepared for labor. I had treatment for the last 3 months of my pregnancy and had a 3 hour labor...my body was primed and ready!

Oh man, that stinks. There is still time for him to turn but sheesh, he is cutting it close. I second the rec about visiting a chiro. My sister in law had a home birth and a chiro helped get her baby to turn. Also, check out spinningbabies.com. There's a variety of exercises that encourage the baby to turn (something about baby's head being heavy so in certain positions, the baby has no choice but to follow his head). Good luck to you! I know the end of pregnancy is so hard. You look beautiful--such a pretty pregnant mama!

In the eighties, I was a little kid who put together model buildings out of notebook paper and Scotch tape and spent days on end playing Monopoly with my best friend. What I've done over the last decade is pretty much the same thing. I began buying, renovating, and renting dozens of properties during Architecture school, where I mostly learned how to stay awake for six days straight. These days I'm slowly working my way through an eighty five year old house while taking care of a slew of rentals with a toddler (literally) strapped to my back. Sometimes I write about it here, but mostly I ramble.